of the Holy See
Session of the Commission on Social Development
(New York, 6-15 February 2013)
My delegation congratulates you and the
bureau on your election and looks forward to contributing towards a fruitful 51st
session of the Commission.
The Commission’s priority theme for this
year’s session, "Promoting empowerment of people
in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment
and decent work for all", comes at a time when an
estimated 456 million workers continue to live on less than $1.25 day and, as
the Secretary General’s report notes, 200 million people are still unemployed
as at the end of 2011. These figures are a stark reminder of the persistent
presence of extreme poverty in our world. How could the current situation not
awaken the conscience of policy-makers, private enterprises, individuals and
families to urgently engage in the promotion of a culture of work so
fundamentally akin to our human dignity?
Work is first and foremost a good of humanity. It educates the individual
to take responsibility for his or her acts. Through the experience of work, the
individual develops a sense of service to others and learns to discern that
personal growth and happiness are the fruits of a work well done. The
achievement of a work in which the individual engages all of his or her
talents, in a spirit of creativity and service to society, is always a source
of joy and legitimate human pride. At the same time, work substantially
contributes to socioeconomic development and to the common good of society. It
grants those living in extreme poverty the joy of living in dignity.
As a fundamental right, work relates to the right to property and is,
most importantly, indissoluble from the inherent right of founding and
supporting a family. In this regard, it is both timely and appropriate that we
begin, during this session, to address the stakes of the 20th
anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2014. “The family”, as the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights observes, “is the natural and fundamental group unit of society
and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” The state should be at the service of the family
because the family is a good in itself. Every human being, endowed with reason
and conscience, can recognize this good as universal.
The family cannot be redefined at the whim of now rapid sociological
evolutions; it cannot be instrumentalized by the state for socioeconomic
purposes; it cannot be reduced to the social functions it does indeed perform
and performs best when it is healthy and when state policies seek what is good
for husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters.
Accordingly, my delegation welcomes the recognition in the Secretary
General’s report for this session that the family is the backbone of
intergenerational solidarity and social cohesion, and bears the primary
responsibility for the development, education and socialization of children
(cf. A/68/61-E/2013/3, para.5). This
reality manifests in the lives of young people around the world who rely on
their father and mother to fulfill their role as their first educators.
The family is the locus within society wherein new generations learn
solidarity towards the weaker and the elderly, love, forgiveness and respect
for social norms – in short, how to grow as persons and become responsible
The Holy See remains firmly committed to promoting both respect for the
rights and responsibilities of parents and the integral personal development of
the youth that are necessary for both generations to fulfill their respective
roles within society.
To this end, the Holy See looks forward to organizing its 28th
World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro later this year, expected to gather two million
young people from around the world in celebration of their faith and solidarity
with all corners of the globe.
This year’s session also marks the 10th anniversary of the
adoption of the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing. At the time, Blessed John Paul
II reminded those participating in the conference that when addressing the
concerns and needs of the elderly one must first of all consider their “dignity
as persons, which does not diminish with passing years nor with physical and
At a time when many developed countries are facing the challenge of
ageing populations, the recognition of the equal dignity of older persons must
be vigorously reaffirmed, rejecting operational utilitarian theories which
measure the elderly by their economic contributions to society.
My delegation recognizes the elderly as vital contributors to society,
whose inherent dignity, human and professional experience, knowledge and wisdom
command respect and makes of intergenerational solidarity a two-way street for
younger generations in search of personal guidance and stability.
Governments and society must work to allow the lessons learned by the
elderly to be transmitted to future generations while also ensuring that people
reaching older ages have access to ongoing educational programmes and social
In conclusion, the family
plays a vital role in all the areas of social development under discussion
during this session, for as fundamental unit of society, the family is also the
primary economic entity and engine of growth. It is the family that cares for
the elderly, and it is the family that furnishes the material, personal,
educational, social and spiritual support to the youth in their transition from
childhood to adulthood.
If this Commission is to
help people and countries make real progress on social development, therefore,
it must work to reverse trends manifesting indifference to the family and
trends destabilizing what the family is by nature and recommit to advancing a
perspective genuinely supportive of the family in all aspects of social
I thank you, Madame Chairperson.